ADrive is one of the lesser known cloud companies. Users can use it to backup and share files with other people. While the company does have paid business level accounts (which offer more features), their free account is enough for smaller groups.

This is especially true of small businesses with few employees.

Customers get 50GB of free storage, those who need a little more room can get twice the amount for $25 a year. There is a catch; this service is ad-supported. You get a lot of space, but be prepared to be inundated with advertisements on every page.

Hive

Hive is the only company on our list which offers unlimited cloud storage solutions for your business at no cost. There are some heavy limitations in place though, which may make you want to use it only as a backup service. For starters, it is an ad-supported site so there will be advertisements and maybe even pop-ups.

In addition, you can share files, as long as you are sharing with other Hive users. This actually works well for companies if all their employees use the same service, as they don’t have to worry about outside sharing as much. But if platform flexibility is important, then Hive is a bad idea.

However, there are no apps to download. This means everything has to be uploaded or recovered from a web browser. You have an option to get Hive ad-free for $8 a month.

Probably one of the most well known names on our list, MEGA was founded by Kim Dotcom after his first site (Megaupload) was shut down by authorities. The service is known not just for its massive free service, but for its security as well, which can’t be beat. New users should note that this is a zero-knowledge company.

Which means MEGA has no way to access your passcode information.

On the other hand, If you should lose that passcode, there is no way to recover data and therefore all your files will be lost. However, if you can keep track of your codes, MEGA offers 50GB for free. You can save any type file and still share it with anyone. For those who need more, storage plans start at $9 a month for 4TB.

For businesses based outside the U.S., this service could be a good option. Based in Switzerland, pCloud conforms to the European code for cloud storage. Customers who sign up will get 10GB of free space.

Users can gain up to an additional 10GB for a total of 20GB through inviting friends. Users can send and share files with anyone. In addition, they can store any type of file. Plans start at $4 for 500GB for those who need more space.

Google is a big name on the internet and both businesses and personal users use the big G’s cloud storage service. Google Drive not only comes with decent amounts storage space, but also their handy office tools as well, which can create:documents, presentations and spreadsheets.

All users get 15GB of free space. Anything created and stored in Docs, Sheets, or Slides does not count against that limit. However, recent changes have been made it where the space available for Gmail does count towards the threshold. Google allow photos smaller than 2048 x 2048 to be stored free without it counting towards your storage quota.

Copy

Copy is not your typical cloud provider. This service is created and maintained by Barracuda Networks, the IT company that specializes not only in storage, but also security.

Users have no maximum limit on the file size as long as it doesn’t go over their allotted storage limit. Free accounts get 15GB of space. Documents have a 30 day revision history and a 30 day file recovery guarantee.

Syncplicity, provided by EMC’s enterprise file sync and share service, was designed as a direct competitor to Box. It offers many of the same features.

Like their competitor, this service offers 10GB of storage for free. Customers can share files with outside users. Additionally, they can use the handy app to synchronize files from their computer to the cloud.

Box is made for businesses. For small groups that don’t have the money to spend on a lot of cloud storage, the company’s personal service may be the ticket. Free accounts have 10GB of storage space available.

However, this does come with a limit of 250MB per file, anything larger cannot be saved. Their “starter” pack is only $5 a month with 100GB for up to 10 users, with a 2GB file size limit.

For private users, Amazon no longer has a free option. You have to be a prime member to be eligible for free photo storage. However, Amazon’s Unlimited Everything service is both cheap and very efficient.

Prime members get a few added benefits, but anyone can use the service. Those who use Amazon’s Simple Storage Service, or S3, can get free storage of up to 5GB.

Conclusion

Cloud storage solutions do not have to be expensive, you simply have to know where to look and how to be creative with them, and of course any advantage a small business can use is definitely worth having on hand.

What do you think our selection of small, business friendly, cloud storage and backup services? Feel free to comment below and thanks for reading!

Denise Sullivan

Sporting a background in Biology, Chemistry and Journalism, Denise has been writing professionally for the past six years. Addicted to the sweet torment of tech, Denise enjoys researching and writing various topics on technology and socio-economic issues, with a strong focus on the cloud industry in particular. Previously lending her writing talents to a flight simulation company, Denise now divides her time between Cloudwards.net and her loving family.